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Topic: Foreigner/or a cover band? (Read 28865 times)

Tatjana - LOL, people were arguing back when Lou and Mick reunited in 1992 and resumed as Foreigner - saying that it wasn't "real" Foreigner because 3 new people (Bruce, Jeff, and Mark) were in the band. I recall cover band comments even then.

We are reading the same here again and again ... YAWN !!!Don't quite understand why Mr. and Mrs. Elliott get into all this by posting a link on their facebook site to this topic.Anyway - come what may: I'll support the boys as much as I can. They are all such skilled musicians, simply brilliant. Loved Jan's and Tatjana's comments, well expressed, Ladies!Babs

This week saw the 35 years since the release of the first album and Mick has always put his heart and soul in to this band through it's various changes in personnel. He has worked tirelessly throughout to ensure that in his choice of band mates, Foreigner provide the quality entertainment that so many people love. I'm sure that the other guys want to carry on with business as normal, partly perhaps to help take some pressure off Mick. I'm wondering what Mick makes of all of this. I'm sure it would help if people could cut some slack and give the guy the time off that he needs without all the hassle and fuss.

I agree that it is an unending, re-tread of an issue - but on the flip side, when any band that has been around as long as Foreigner has, and continues to make current news, you will always have people bringing up subjects that have been discussed before.

Sometimes its for the sake of rehashing old arguments, but other times it may be by those who have not been following the band recently, or are unfamiliar with aspects of the past.

I'm sure that there are still endless debates on say, the Journey forums, over Steve Perry leaving the band, et al, for example. As long as there is the internet and places for people to express their viewpoints - it will never end.

To be fair to the Elliotts, they merely asked people's opinion about a thread on this forum that was not initially started by them, but by a show attendee. Why the interest in this particular thread, I do not know. I'd presume its no different than anyone else on FB posting a link to something they've read elsewhere on the net, and asking for opinions/discussion.

Well...after reading some of the replies, let me reply to a few of the responses. I am not going to quote anyone or a reply, so read the replies first & then read my reply here to my original post.

I made this post to point out that there wasn't any information locally stating that Mick was not going to be at the show. Nobody forced me to buy tickets, but it was on the premise that Mick was going to be there!!! And yes, it is up to Foreigner and their Management to make sure that the ticket buying public is aware of this-especially at $85 & $65 a ticket & there isn't any original member in the band. Sorry guys, this is called a cover band now!!! If I want to go see a cover band, I can do so for $5-$20. There are alot of great musicians & cover bands out there. There is excellent Van Halen cover band, but that is exactly what they are!!!!!! That is why Van Halen always gets the money they get for their tickets when they go out on tour, no matter who is singing!!!!!!! They still have Alex & Eddie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So if Mick is a guitar god-as stated in one post, wouldn't I want him to be there!!!??? And if not, just make the info available when we buy the tickets or call it a tribute to Foreigner. I shouldn't have to go search out info on the internet to find this info out when buying tickets. It should be advertised that way!!!! This is really up to Mick-who controlls the Foreigner name & their Management & the venues. And when was the venue(s) notified that Mick wasn't going to be there? From the beginning, or at last minute??? We as fans, never know when that info is made available to the venues! I am not upset because they don't have the 1979 lineup, or for that matter any lineup. Just have one original member. It is simple as that!!!!!!! I have known for years that Mick was the only original member in the recording/touring version & a very important member still left in the band!! Like I stated in the first post, no disrespect for the current lineup. Good band, good show, but no better than seeing a really good cover band for $15-$20. I've seen a Doors cover band that was EXCELLENT & you would have sworn that the singer was Jim Morrison, but they didn't bill themselves as "The Doors"!!!! And no, this doesn't have anything to do with Lou Gramm not being in the band. I knew he wasn't with them & I seen solo in the 90's. And yes Kelly does a great job with all of the songs. And yes, there have been alot of members in the band, but the constant with all of the versions, was Mick. Without him, well your back to a cover band. If not, let Brit Floyd call themselves Pink Floyd. They cover all the Pink Floyd material EXCELLENT. They sound just like them, the light show is GREAT, but wait no Roger, no David, no Nick-not billed as PINK FLOYD-and by the way ticket prices for Brit Floyd here in Ct is $25 & $35 each, not $65 & $85!!!!!! They play all of the hits & have great musicians as well!!!! How about Beatlemania? Do I need to go any further with this!!!??? It is what it is, not an opinion. Sorry Foreigner fans-which I am also one, no Mick, no Foreigner at this point & we got jammed for high ticket prices to a good cover band!!! I think greed may have contributed to this whole situation!!! And as long as Foreigner keeps touring without Mick, this "OLD" & "TIRED" topic will keep rearing it's ugly head. And if this bothers you, think about it & contact the powers that be to have the ticket prices & their concerts billed accordingly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is crazy -- as I am reading this discussion, Tracii Guns is on "That Metal Show" going through all the line-ups and band names from even before "Guns and Roses" through "LA Guns." He calls it "going through the family tree!"

@Chump -- I cannot speak for any other venue. Our original concert date for Acoustique with Mick, Kelly, Jeff and Tom was January 28, 2012. That was scheduled some time in Sept. 2011. In November, our venue was contacted by Foreigner's agent to explain that due to Mick's illness, they were going to switch most concerts to full band electric and have a replacement for Mick. Since our re-scheduled date was February 28 -- I would say that was plenty of notice!!!! Our venue made posters, signs and flyers through local printers. They even used an old photo of the band from their show here in 2008. I pointed out that Brian Head was only in the band for a few shows -- it was a distant shot of the band on stage. So -- there you go! Apparently each venue does their own marketing -- Foreigner has nothing to do with that aspect! Again, our venue chose to put a note at the bottom that due to illness, there would be a replacement for the guitarist. Anyone who called in was given specific information. I assure you that 90% of the attendees didn't know or really care as long as the show rocked! I had quite a few people ask if Kelly was the original lead singer. They thought he sounded like the radio versions. Actually, the only question was a call from someone on the day of the concert who said they heard someone in the band had just had a heart attack and the show was canceled. It was also the Performance Center's responsibility to inform ticket holders that the show was changing from acoustic to full band -- which they did. Foreigner's management had all they could do to get the shows rescheduled to new dates and in some instances, different venues. How could they possibly inform concert goers of Bruce subbing for Mick -- other than to inform the venues? How would you have liked to be notified that Mick wasn't going to be there?

I do feel that it is the concert goer's responsibility to check who is in the line-up and what the band has been up to. Some people buy tix from ticketmaster, some call the box office from seeing a road sign or poster -- it is impossible to provide information about who is in the band and what they are playing. Most people do not read all the details anyway. I always check what is up on Wiki, band's web pages and FB before I even buy tickets. I look on youtube and read concert goers' reviews. My friend and I got last minute tickets with a M & G to see Blue Oyster Cult. We checked out the videos and website and decided it was worth a shot. Show was actually awesome -- even though we knew just a few songs. YouTube was so helpful!!!!!!

Just my thoughts!!!! Oh and Van Halen got the big bucks and called themselves Van Halen when Sammy Haggar was touring with them as well.

Mr. and Mrs. Elliott do have the right to put this link on their site and ask for people’s opinion, however, I do happen to find it a bit infelicitous to put this link on Lou’s official facebook page as this is adding fuel to the fire, will say it stirs up hatred and you get to read things like “Kelly Hansen is just a cheap imitation” and “I would never visit this (foreigneronline) site”

I always thought that this kind of war between the camps was total bullshit. If I love Mick Jones does that mean I naturally have to hate Lou Gramm and vice versa? I just don’t get it!

@Chump I want you to know that I didn’t aim my comments directly towards you but that those have been general comments.

Now I would like to know what your actual point is: You complain about the high ticket prices: Do you actually think you would get to see a bunch of top-notch musicians like the current line-up of Foreigner for 20 bucks?!

You have found your way here after the concert to complain so I’m asking myself why did you not find the way here earlier to “check it and see?” You would have long found out that Mick is out sick and you could have decided if you want to pay the ticket prices or not.

I once went to a show of a band named “Still Collins” which is (who would ever have suspected this ) a tribute band to Phil Collins and Genesis and I paid around 40,00 to 50,00 Euros. The gig was worth every single penny even though there was no member of Genesis involved. On the other hand I only paid 38,00 Euros to see the one and only Mr. Peter Frampton who played for almost 3 (!!) hours.

My niece and her boyfriend once went to see “The Australian Pink Floyd Experience” and paid almost 100,00 Euro per ticket and there was no Gilmour, no Waters, no Mason.

I only paid 55,00 Euro to see the mighty Deep Purple with Marillion and my husband is going to see Judas Priest and Saxon for 50,00 Euro per ticket and saw Whitesnake with Axel Rudi Pell for 50,00 Euro, so ticket prices vary quite a lot and it has nothing to do whether you see a tribute band or not. As you can tell from my experience the tickets for tribute bands have even been more expensive than other tickets!

But I would never ever complain as long as I enjoy the music because that is what it is all about!

All I can say this argument is never going to go away. I will tell you, that for me Foreigner is a damn good band that has made me new friends & hopefully more in the future! I look forward to many more concerts this year & hope Mick is ready to rock with the band very soon!!! Until then I will enjoy Foreigner with the line up they have...I have had so much fun at every concert & am looking forward to seeing them in Dubuque, IA in May!!!

@Tatjana - I wasn't aware that the comment about the forum posting was on the Lou Gramm FB pages - I only saw it on their walls (on my feed), as I'm not subscribed to any of the LG pages anymore. I was only remarking on what I knew as far as them sharing the link on their pages only. Sorry for any confusion.

I do agree with you that there is certainly not any need for shit stirring - it just ends up being detrimental towards all parties in the end.

Re: ticket prices - another thing for fans to consider is that bands in general do not set the ticket prices - the local promoters/venues do. The band may have a set fee or percentage contract they are required to be paid by the promoter, but they themselves don't determine if a ticket is going to cost $20 or $80. The local venue or promoter generally prices the tickets by what they feel the market will bear.

FF -- Mel -- am I correct? Yes, you are right that the venues set the individual ticket prices based on their cost of hosting the band. Our Performance Center is not-for-profit, but they still have overhead in addition to the band's fee. Our prices for Foreigner were $68/$58/$52 and an additional $100 for the VIP package. Part of the VIP went to the band; part to the venue. Attendees had no problem with those prices at all! Our venue seats 1600 and the show was close to sold out! They sold all the available VIP packages. I'm sure each venue has its own pricing. I thought that was an awesome price!! I think the pricing was for the originally scheduled acoustic tour -- the switch to electric was worked out with no ticket price increase. It was just so exciting to have the band perform here and have so many fans from the board join us!! The whole place was rocking -- even before the band took the stage!! Much dancing, singing and rocking!! The band was just so much fun!! They interacted with the crowd and there were so many smiles! Half the concert goers ran to the stage before the lights dimmed -- so much energy from both sides!! Our stage is very wide and hip high -- so the band and crowd were very close! What a night!!! Everyone got more than their money's worth and not one person complained about Mick's absence! Of course we missed him, but Bruce is delightful and very good! Tom just played Mick's keyboards perfectly. Just thinking about that show makes me smile! How awesome was it that the band sang "Happy Birthday" to Jennifer during the Meet and Greet! Fans got pics taken with the guys and items autographed - all with big smiles --they are just the best!